CFO - Startup
14 Months of Runway
And Counting Down
Burn rate is climbing while the market for raises has frozen. The board wants a path to profitability. Your CEO wants to keep growing. The math doesn't work.
The Runway Reality
Every hire extends the runway crisis. Every missed target shortens it. The clock doesn't stop.
14mo
Runway remaining
$1.8M
Monthly burn rate
-40%
Valuations vs 2021
9mo
Typical fundraise timeline
Runway Countdown With Milestones
Now
Month 0
Board Deck
Month 3
Start Raise
Month 5
Must Close
Month 11
Zero
Month 14
3 months of buffer = 3 months of leverage lost
Where The Cash Goes
Burn Composition:
- Payroll & benefits (68%)
- Cloud infrastructure (12%)
- Office & facilities (7%)
- Sales & marketing (6%)
- Professional services (4%)
- Software subscriptions (2%)
- Other operating (1%)
Cutting Options:
- Hiring freeze (saves 3mo runway)
- RIF 20% (saves 5mo runway)
- Office closure (saves 1mo runway)
- Vendor renegotiation (saves 0.5mo)
- Marketing pause (saves 1mo runway)
- Travel freeze (saves 0.3mo runway)
- Salary reduction (saves 2mo runway)
SlideStrike Speaks Startup Finance
45+ startup metrics, automatically visualized for board and investor meetings.
Runway
Months of cash remaining
Burn Rate
Monthly cash consumption
Burn Multiple
Burn / Net new ARR
Rule of 40
Growth + profit margin
CAC Payback
Months to recover CAC
LTV:CAC
Unit economics ratio
ARR Growth
Year over year growth
NDR
Net dollar retention
Questions from Startup CFOs
What CFOs at growth-stage companies ask
RUNWAY VISIBILITY FOR YOUR BOARD
Scenario Planning in 60 Seconds
Model runway scenarios. Show investors the path. Get board alignment on burn vs growth tradeoffs.
Runway scenario visualization
Burn rate trending charts
Investor-ready financial slides
Board deck automation